For the next few weeks, we'll periodically take a look at the Giants' new free agent acquisitions and try to figure out how they will fit in on the roster. On Monday, we took a look at Rashad Jennings' ability as a power back. Today, we examine the signing of returner Trindon Holliday, who torched the Giants last season on a long punt return, one of four career special teams touchdowns. Will he be in a similar role now that he's in East Rutherford, or is there something more to the former college running back and wide receiver?

D.J. McCarthy waited for the moment when the Houston Texans would consider Trindon Holliday more than just a kick returner.

“He really thought they were going to find a way to use him on the offensive side of the ball,” he said.

The former LSU wide receivers coach, who also works with Holliday each offseason on his pass catching skills and returns, always saw Holliday as a dynamic offensive weapon – a world class sprinter with developing hands; a running back who can cause mismatches with linebackers and a slot receiver who could open up the middle of the field.

As he watched the Seahawks in the Super Bowl, he saw a pair of jet sweeps to Percy Harvin that netted 45 yards and wondered what the difference really was between Harvin and Holliday.

“He is just like Percy Harvin, he’s just four inches shorter,” McCarthy said in a telephone interview. “He’s faster than Percy. He’s quicker than Percy. Percy is just 6-foot, 200 pounds. Trindon Holliday is 5-5, 170 pounds.

“You just have to put the ball in his hands. I don’t know any other way to say it.”

Holliday, according to McCarthy, had planned on being picky in free agency this offseason. He wanted to go to a team that planned to use him as more than just a special teams player. He has just two career receptions for 17 yards and one career rush for seven. He comes to a Giants team that already has another return man, Quintin Demps, under contract.

While it’s unrealistic to expect Holliday to rescind his special teams role, McCarthy knows he’s capable of more.

“You put him in the slot, let him run those Wes Welker option routes, let him do what he do, put him at the X back and run him wide on the goal line, not too many people are going to keep up with him.

“He can get off press coverage and bump and run. Just because he’s 5-5 doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the skills to get off bump and run, or he doesn’t have the skills to catch balls. He can do all three.”

At LSU, Holliday averaged nearly seven yards per touch on offense. He carried the ball 115 times for 776 yards and caught seven passes for 72 yards.

He averaged one yard less per touch in the SEC than Dexter McCluster, another player who drew comparisons to Holliday. He racked up 3,658 all-purpose yards in four years at Ole Miss.

Last season, the Giants screen game was nonexistent. Retooling the short passing game was one of the primary goals of new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, who watched enough film of Eli Manning hurling passes into the ground to know that there needed to be better dual-threat options out of the backfield.

In Kansas City, Alex Smith completed 19 of the 20 passes he threw to McCluster in the backfield last year. McCluster was third on the team in receptions.

If Holliday continues to progress, McCarthy doesn’t see any reason why the Giants couldn’t have a similar player.

The issue, he says, is Holliday’s first instinct to turn and run. He finished second to Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay in the 2007 Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a 100-meter time of 10.07 seconds. Before the scouting combine in 2010, he self-reported a 40-yard dash time of 4.21 seconds. His penchant for looking downfield is understandable, and one of the main reasons he has been relegated to a special teams role. Coach Tom Coughlin has already had long conversations with Holliday about ball security.

“Guys who are big play guys who have lots of drops or fumbles, they’re always looking at getting up field," McCarthy said. "You have to really work on concentrating on the ball and catching it first.”

If Holliday can curb that instinct, the Giants may have more than just a kick returner.